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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1939-04-17U 1 SELECTMEN'S I' -METING April 17, 1939 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was helP in the Selectmen's Room, Town Office Building, at 7:30 M. Chairman Giroux and 14essrs. Potter, Rowse, ]Locke and Sarano were present. The Clerk was also present. At 7:30 P. M. the Town Treasurer appeared before th Board with bids received on a loan in the amount of X150,000.00 in anticipation of revenue. The following bids were received: First Newton Savings Bank .25° dis. New. Eng. 1'rust Company .180 It Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co. .1930 ti Lexington Trust Company .m5 " Second National Bank .164% it R. 1. Day .230/o " Mr. Rowse moved that the bid of the Second National) Bank be accepted, the notes to be dated April 18, 1939 and payable as follows: $'75,000. December 1, 1939; $75,000. April 5, 1940. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Nr. Albert A. Ross appeared before the Board and said that he was doing so at the request of Edith Millard of North Street. The Town extended a water main in North Street in 1932 and P,Iiss Willard was one of the guarantors. The extension was made at a time when a great deal of work was being done and the cement lined pipe which was used was "green". As a result, Miss Willard's being at the end of the line caused her a great deal of trouble throuh sediment and bad taste and odor. It was necessary for h r to have considerable plumbing work done and also it was necessary for her to bleed the pipe in order to use the water at all. Because water which was run off was meter' -d, of course Miss Willard's bill for rates was excessive. However, she paid the bill and for that year, the rates exceeded the interest on the guaranty. Piss Willard understood at the time that it would not be necessary for her topay any more water guarantees. However, she has been receiving the bills and does not feel that she shoud be made to pay anything more because of all the trouble and inconvenience she was caused. It was decided to hold the matter over for one week. PM LoEn Willard water guaranty P.W.A. tablets Use of Hall Use of Hall Mr. Raymond appeared before the Board. He said he had received a bulletin from the P. W. A. advertising the size and type of commemorative tablets and cornerstones which the town might have if it wanted to erect any on its Federal projects. He thought the only place where a tablet should go was inside the North Lexington Pump- ing Station. Two tablets would cost about 100. Nr. Rowse moved that no action be taken on the matter. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond reported that the Fallen Alliance made application for an entertainment at Cary Hall on April 14th and then advertised that there was going to be dancing afterward. The regular price for that would be $25.00 but all they were charged was 415. He thought it would be in order to send another bill for the bal- ance. Mr. Giroux said that one of the women in the parish called him and said it was an oversight that the dancing was not mentioned in the application. The admission was thirty-five cents and the money was to go to the church so Mr. Giroux told her he would recommend to the Board that the use of the hall at the original price be allowed. Yr. Rowse moved that the Chairman's recommendation be approved. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said that the V. F. W. was sponsoring a bicycle safety club installation on May 4th and would like to use Cary Hall from 7;00 to 11:00 P. M. Mr. Rowse moved that the organization be granted the use of the hall as one of its free nights. Kr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. Pair. Raymond reported that the Briggs Class wanted to use Cary Hall for a meeting at noontime on April 23rd. kir. Rowse moved that the use of the hall be granted free of charge. kir. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond presented a letter from Metcalf & Eddy recommending the issuance of a change order to cover the Change use of wood sheathing in place of steel sheathing in order, No. the construction of the North Lexington Pumping Station. Lex. sewer pair. Raymond recommended that the order be adopted. Mr. Rowse moved that the order be adopted. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond reported that Mr. Harry Frost owned a lot of land on Mass. Avenue near the corner of School Street. Since the town rebuilt that portion of Mass. Ave., more or less dumping has been going on there by private 1 D 1 r. 1 Mr. Raymond said he believed there might be three or four people interested in having a bituminous top to the sidewalk in Oak Street if the town would pay one-half the cost. This is in connection with Mr. Nary's request for a bituminous top sidewalk. Mr. Rowse moved that the Board approve the construction of better- ment sidewalks as requested. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr, Raymond recommended that a telephone be installed in the home of the Supt. of the Highway Division and listed under the Town of Lexington and billed to Mr. Paxton. Mr. Rowse moved that the recommendation be approved. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. •Mr. Raymond said that Dir. Beach had requested him to discuss with the Board the matter of the use of his car. Pair. Beach is using his car a great deal more now because of the running around necessary to notify men about work on the P.M.A. projects. Dir. Beach said he used to drive it about thirty miles per day and now drives it forty to forty-five miles per day. After con- siderable discussion on the matter, Dir. Potter moved that Dir. Beach's car allowance be increased to $10. per week beginning immediately and that Mr. Beach keep a record of all his mileage and submit a report to the Board. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. Father Mackey, representing the Sacred Heart. Parish, Melville kebb, representing the American Legion, Carl B. 269 Dumping No.Lex. Sewer Project Aldrich prop. wrecking Sidewalk, Oak St. Paxton telephone Beach - use of car individuals. The lot is unsightly and P,ir. Raymond suggest- ed that the Board acting as the Board of Health, consider the lot a nuisance and approve of the Highway Department covering it with sand taken from the highways. Mr. Potter moved that the Board of Selectmen, actin; as the Board of Health, adopt Dir. aymond's recommendation. Mr. Rowse seconded the motior and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond read a letter from Metcalf & Eddy reporting the sub -contractors to be used by Albert Rounds an his contract foi the North Lexington Sewer Project. Metcalf & Eddy approved the sub -contractors. Mr. Rowse moved that they be approved. Dir. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr. Raymond said he thought it was in order to return the check f r X100. to the Mass. Building Wreck- ing Co. Mr. Locke moved that the check be returned. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. r. 1 Mr. Raymond said he believed there might be three or four people interested in having a bituminous top to the sidewalk in Oak Street if the town would pay one-half the cost. This is in connection with Mr. Nary's request for a bituminous top sidewalk. Mr. Rowse moved that the Board approve the construction of better- ment sidewalks as requested. Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Mr, Raymond recommended that a telephone be installed in the home of the Supt. of the Highway Division and listed under the Town of Lexington and billed to Mr. Paxton. Mr. Rowse moved that the recommendation be approved. Mr. Locke seconded the motion and it was so voted. •Mr. Raymond said that Dir. Beach had requested him to discuss with the Board the matter of the use of his car. Pair. Beach is using his car a great deal more now because of the running around necessary to notify men about work on the P.M.A. projects. Dir. Beach said he used to drive it about thirty miles per day and now drives it forty to forty-five miles per day. After con- siderable discussion on the matter, Dir. Potter moved that Dir. Beach's car allowance be increased to $10. per week beginning immediately and that Mr. Beach keep a record of all his mileage and submit a report to the Board. Mr. Rowse seconded the motion and it was so voted. Father Mackey, representing the Sacred Heart. Parish, Melville kebb, representing the American Legion, Carl B. 269 Dumping No.Lex. Sewer Project Aldrich prop. wrecking Sidewalk, Oak St. Paxton telephone Beach - use of car 270 Jones, representing the V.F.W. and James Cosgrove and ' four others representing the K. of C. appeared before the Board. The Chairman said that a letter had been received from Father O'Connor asking if it might be possible that the parish be granted a permit to hold a carnival in East Lexington this year. He said that last year three organizations held one, but when the K. of C. came in later on and asked for a permit it was refused because of the objection from the residents in the neighborhood. He said that there seemed to be no ob- jection to holding the carnival for one week, but there was objection to holding it longer than that. He asked if it would be possible for the four organizations to hold a carnival jointly and divide the profits. Mr. Carnival Potter asked how many organizations would be interested in holding a carnival this year, and they all -said that they would be. Mr. Cosgrove said that his organization was re- fused a permit last year and that he believed it should be given extra consideration this year. Father Mackey said that his parish was in East Lexington and because of that, if a permit was to be granted for East Lex- ington, it seemed as though it should go to the church. He presented a petition signed by twenty-seven persons to the effect that they would not object to a carnival of ' if held by the Sacred Heart. Church. The signers this petition were approximately the same as those who signed the petition of protest last year. The Chairman suggested that the group retire and come to some agree- ment on the matter. The Chairman went out with the group and came back and said that they had agreed to let the Sacred Heart" Church have the permit. Chief Taylor, Edward F. Buttrick and Norman Hooper, the fire Engineers, appeared before the Board with a few members of the Appropriation Committee. Chief Taylor said that the inevitable had happened and the block on the engine of the ladder truck had cracked. The Engineers have decided that the truck is unsuitable to run and it would be endangering the life of the driver as well as the people, if it were driven. The top case is cracked. Mr. Rowse asked why it was not safe. Chief Taylor said that the crack was widening all the time. They could not keep oil in it now and the motor will collapse. If it is in clutch when that happens,, there will be a scattering of parts and the driver might be thrown off the truck. The Chairman asked if there was any appro- priation to cover the repair to the truck and Chief Taylor replied in the negative. The Chairman asked if ' part of the motor could not be repaired, and Chief Taylor said that he had received a figure of X1600. to $1700. for repairing the damage. The Chairman said that even though the truck was repaired, the Department would be without a ladder truck while that was being done. Chief Taylor said that he did not know where he could borrow a ladder truck. Mr. Rowse asked if some other town could cover it and the engineers replied in the negative and said the town would be without equipment for two weeks anyway. Mr. Sarano asked if the men at the Fire Department could repair the truck and Chief Taylor said that they could not. Mr. Potter asked why it would cost so much to repair the truck, and Chief Taylor read the estimate received from the American LaFrance Foamite Corp. There was talk of declaring an emergency and having the truck repaired, but Mr. Rowse said that in order to declare an emergency, an emergency would have to exist and the Board would have to be able to prove it. Mr. Potter said it sounded like an awful lot of money to him to do the job. The Chairman suggested that there be an article in the warrant for the next Town Meeting for the repair of the old truck and another article for the purchase of a new truck. The Fire Engineers retired. Mr. Fawcett said he had inquired in Cambridge this ' week and found that they had two extra ladder trucks. Mr. Potter said he would like to have the Chief get figures for the repair of the truck from other concerns. Someone said that Belmont and Maynard had purchased new ladder trucks at a much smaller figure than that which Chief Taylor quoted. The Clerk was instructed to write Chief Taylor and ask him to secure information, prices, and time of delivery on pieces of equipment such as .are found in Belmont and Maynard, and to further request him to secure competitive prices on the cost of the repair of the present truck. Pd'r. Potter said he would see if Cambridge would be willing to loan a ladder truck to Lexington. The School Committee, and Chairman Merriam and Yessrs. Emery, Hynes, Fawcett and Russell of the Appro- priation Committee, appeared before the Board. Supt. Grindle was also present. The Chairman said that there was some talk of bringing down the town tax to 430.00, but he thought it was practically impossible to go at it that way. He thought that.the approach was this: -to determine how much the boards were prepared to cut on a percentage basis. He asked what Tcir. Houghton thought of this. fF' r. Houghton said that that was part of the story. Last ' week they did not have in mind reducing teachers' sal - 271 Fire ,Dept. Ladder truck School Com. re: 1940 budget aries. He stated that they wanted to talk about partially reducing annual increases and among them- selves they thought they might make some other savings which might not be for the best interests of the schools but which could be done. He said the School Committee wanted to know what was going to be done in other departments as there was no reason why the teachers should have their annual increases taken away if it was not going to be done in other depart- ments. Mr. Merriam said that the only other departments that had step rate increases were the Police and Fire Departments. Mr. Rowse asked if the teachers they would have to let go would be because of the reduction in the number of pupils and Mr. Houghton replied in the neg- ative. He said that this was not something that should be done, but what they would propose in order to make a reduction for the town. The School Committee was In favor of this rather than in favor of taking away the annual increases because if that were done, Lex- ington was liable to lose some of its best teachers to other towns. Mr. Merriam said he thought that if the majority wanted a $30. tax rate, they should realize what services they would have to do without in order to have that $30. tax rate. Mr. Russell said his idea would be to send out a printed questionnaire to the Town Meeting Members asking what services they would be willing to do without and to request each member to return it over his signature. The Chairman suggested that Tessrs. Merriam, Hough- ton, Russell and himself get together and decide upon something to be put before the people in order to get a sense of the Town Meeting Members. Mr. Yerriam said he thought that unfair replies might be received. He thought it would be better to send the questionnalte out to all registered voters. Mr. Merriam questioned whether this was the time to poll to try to get a binding opinion for something that would not be put into effect for another year. It was finally decided that the Appropriation Com- mittee would meet and work out a course of action to be taken. The group retired at 10:20 P. Pd. Letter was received from George E. Ham relative to alleged damages to his property as a result of the Vine Ham claim Brook project. The Clerk was instructed to give a copy of the lbtter to Mr. Raymond and to request him to re- port on the matter next week. 1 1 1 273 Letter was received from. Calvin W. Childs offering gasoline to the town departments during the present strike. The Clerk was instructed to acknowledge the Gasoline letter with thanks. The Chairman requested Iir. Raymond to look into Sub -Division the matter of the subdivision regulations and see Regulations what was holding them up. The Chairman also spoke to 11r. Raymond about Cataldo placing Tony Cataldo's son in the Water Department. employment Mr. Raymond said he would look into the matter and report later. Mr. Raymond said that the only matter which he wondered if the Board wanted to take up in the next Street names Town A:eeting was that of the changing of street names. It was decided to let this go over to a fall meeting. Upon motion of Mr. Potter, seconded by P,ir. Rowse, it was voted that the following licenses be granted: Velma S. Stephens, Waltham St. Common Victualler's Max Sulkin, Waltham Junk Collector Mrs. Sarah Berman,22 $iass.lave. Sunday Sales Licenses ' Dorothy Lappen, 1780 Mass. "ve. Overhanging Sign Harry Gee, 1734 Rass. Ave. Parker E. Hallett, 63 Old Cty. Rd. Peddler's License Mr. Rowse moved that the cost of decorating the Reviewing reviewing stand be charged to the Unclassified account. stand Mr. Sarano seconded the motion and it was so voted. Letter was received from the Civil Service Com- mission advising that it would approve the provisional employment of Ralph E. Chadwick of 67 Orchard Street, Belmont, as Sealer of Weights .& Measures. Mr. Potter Sealer moved that Mr. Chadwick be appointed provisional Sealer of Weights & Measures. Mr. Saran seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Letter was received from the Town Counsel stating that in the case of Marulli v. Lexington the plaintiff had abandoned his appeal to the Supreme Court. There- Marulli for the case went to judgment for the town. Mr. case Wrightington enclosed his bill in the amount of $125. Mr. Potter moved that the bill be approved. Mr. Locke seconded the motion, and it was so voted. ' Request was received from Jacob Bornstein that the $50. fee for his junk license be reduced to $25. 274 The Chairman stated that Alan Adams had had trouble with persons'loitering in the rear of his plant and Special he requested..a Special Police Commission. Mr. Rowse Police moved that Alan Adams be granted a Special Police commission for a period ending April 1st, 1940. Mr. Potter seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. Locke asked if it would be all right for the Information Bornstein Mr. Patter moved that no reduction be made because of Merriam Street and Mass. Avenue on Patriot's Day. junk it would not be fair to the other licensees. Mr. Locke license seconded the motion, and it was so voted. wives were invited to attend the Rotary Club dinner and Invitation Letter was received from 'William R. Greeley was instructed to accept the invitation with thanks. ' stating that last year a committee was appointed to Report of consider the purchase of additional land near the Committee corner of Burlington and Grove Streets. The Committee recommended the purchase of no additional land. The Clerk was instructed to notify Mr. Greeley that because the Committee was -appointed by the Town Meeting their report would have to be'made to the Town Meeting. Permit to Mrs. Elden M. Downes, who operates a bake shop sell at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Depot Park, requested sandwiches permission to sell sandwiches on April 19th. There was no objection to her doing this. Canessa's The Clerk was instructed to request the Building license Inspector to talk with the neighbors around 904 Mass. Ave. to see what'their reaction to Frank Canessa's holding a third class agents' license was. Mr. Potter informed the Board that Tony Mercadante Mercadante had only eight pigs and had no money but wished a garbage Transportation of Garbage license. Upon motion of license Mr. Potter, seconded by Mr. Sarano, it was voted to ' grant Anthony Mercadante a Transportation of Garbage license free of charge. One Charles Cosentino of Fitchburg applied for a License permit to sell peanuts and pop corn on patriot's Day. denied. Mr. Rowse moved that the application be denied. Mr. Potter seconded the motion and it was so voted. The Chairman stated that Alan Adams had had trouble with persons'loitering in the rear of his plant and Special he requested..a Special Police Commission. Mr. Rowse Police moved that Alan Adams be granted a Special Police commission for a period ending April 1st, 1940. Mr. Potter seconded the motion, and it was so voted. Mr. Locke asked if it would be all right for the Information Boy Scouts to have an information tent at the corner tent of Merriam Street and Mass. Avenue on Patriot's Day. There was no objection to this. The Chairman said that the Selectmen and their wives were invited to attend the Rotary Club dinner and Invitation entertainment on Monday evening, April 24th. The Clerk was instructed to accept the invitation with thanks. ' 1 L 1 It was decided to meet next Monday, April 24th* at 4:00 P. M. Commitment of water miscellaneous charges in the amount of $24.00 was signed b7 the Board. Messrs. Mitchell and Morse appeared before the Board relative to Welfare cases. The meeting adjourned at 12:12 P. M. A true record, Attest: r�- ro� Clerk 275 Next meeting Commitment Welfare